With the rapid expansion of portable electronic devices, charging of batteries of these portable electronic devices has become a significant issue. While charging through cables or dockings can be somewhat effective, it can be inconvenient to carry and/or search for a suitable cable and charger for one or more portable electronic devices. Also, charging a portable electronic device in a public area can be problematic, as a charging platform in a public area may have to provide different charging resources and/or charging accommodations for various types of portable electronic devices, and may be expected to handle the charging requests of a large number of customers.
One solution can be to use a wireless charging infrastructure, wherein the charger may be in the form of a pad where a user can charge an electronic device by placing the device on a flat substrate. A large part of the development to date on wireless charging has been based on electromagnetic coupling. However, electromagnetic coupling has certain drawbacks as it may induce undesired interference to other electronic devices that may be sensitive to electromagnetic waves and/or or entities (e.g. hard drive, credit cards, etc.) that may be embedded with magnetic responsive substances. Also, when higher power is desired to supply a large charging area (e.g., a charging table), it is uncertain whether a large charging area using electromagnetic coupling will be hazardous to human health.
The above-described description is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of wireless and optical charging, and is not intended to be exhaustive.